(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 10 June 2003 WAN press release: Dublin, Ireland, 10 June 2003 For immediate release Newspaper Publishers and Editors Demand Press Freedom on Internet The world’s newspaper publishers and editors have called on policy-makers preparing for the World Summit on the Information Society to ensure that press freedom on the […]
(WAN/IFEX) – The following is a 10 June 2003 WAN press release:
Dublin, Ireland, 10 June 2003
For immediate release
Newspaper Publishers and Editors Demand Press Freedom on Internet
The world’s newspaper publishers and editors have called on policy-makers preparing for the World Summit on the Information Society to ensure that press freedom on the internet is protected and to reject attempts by repressive governments to introduce new regulations and controls.
The Board of the World Association of Newspapers, together with the Board of the World Editors Forum, said they were concerned that concepts that would regulate information and restrict the free flow of news are emerging in preparatory meetings for the WSIS, which is designed by UN agencies to produce policies for extending the benefits of information technologies and bridging the “digital divide” between rich and poor societies.
In a resolution which was passed on the eve of the World Newspaper Congress and World Editors Forum, which brought nearly 1,200 newspaper executives to Dublin, Ireland, the editors and publishers called on policy-makers “to ensure that the Summit includes a clear statement of unqualified support for freedom of expression and press freedom on the internet.”
“This should reaffirm the application to the internet of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and call for its implementation everywhere. Any proposal should reject restrictions on news content or media operations. The Boards also call on policy-makers to strongly reject, once and for all, the discredited concepts of the ‘new world information order’ that are being put forward once again by those who wish to control the press.
The WSIS is to be held on 10-12 December in Geneva with a follow-up summit scheduled to be held in Tunisia in 2005. The Boards called on UN agencies to reconsider their decision to hold the summit in Tunisia because of the country’s repression of freedom of expression.
The resolution said:
“The Boards of the World Association of Newspapers and World Editors Forum, meeting at the 56th World Newspaper Congress in Dublin, Ireland, 8-11 June 2003, calls on national policy-makers preparing for the World Summit on the Information Society to ensure that freedom of expression and press freedom on the internet is protected and not restricted in its recommendations and to strongly reject attempts by repressive governments to revive the discredited “new world information order”.
“The WSIS, to be held on 10-12 December in Geneva with a follow-up summit scheduled to be held in Tunisia in 2005, is designed by UN agencies to produce a set of policies for extending the benefits of information technologies worldwide and bridging the “digital divide” separating affluent societies from poor ones.
“Preparatory meetings and proposals have raised concern that concepts that seek to regulate information and restrict the free flow of news are re-emerging now in the context of new technologies to be discussed at the Summit. Many of these concepts, referred to as the “new world information order,” were promoted at UNESCO in the 1970s and 1980s and led the United States and the United Kingdom to quit the UN agency.
“The Boards of WAN and the WEF call on policy-makers to ensure that the Summit includes a clear statement of unqualified support for freedom of expression and press freedom on the internet. This should reaffirm the application to the internet of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and call for its implementation everywhere. Any proposal should reject restrictions on news content or media operations. The Boards also call on policy-makers to strongly reject, once and for all, the discredited concepts of the “new world information order” that are being put forward once again by those who wish to control the press.
“The Boards also call on the United Nations system to reconsider its decision to hold the final summit in Tunisia. It is completely inappropriate to hold a global information meeting in a country that severely represses freedom of information and expression.”
The Paris-based WAN, the global organisation for the newspaper industry, defends and promotes press freedom world-wide. It represents 18,000 newspapers; its membership includes 71 national newspaper associations, individual newspaper executives in 100 countries, 13 news agencies and nine regional and world-wide press groups.
The WEF is the division of WAN that represents senior news executives.
